


Wall.

by yucksoup



Category: OFF (Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Batter is a ginger, Batter is up to some shit, Datura trip, Drugs, Hallucinations, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Murder, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Psychosis, Rating May Change, Suicide Attempt, WIP, Why is there godzilla and waffle house, lmao this is inspired off JTHM, this is not a nice fucking story, trigger warning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-22
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2019-07-01 05:34:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15767643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yucksoup/pseuds/yucksoup
Summary: The Batter's job is to "purify" to keep his wall of blood moist, silent and content. Everyone is pushing him to. Well, most of them. His voices have conflict between one another at times.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic I have ever posted, so I apologize if it's bad haha

__Zacharie was generally a simple person. He ran a small shop for a living and lived in an apartment on his own. The merchant sold all kinds of items, from decorations to even weapons. Few customers ever came, some being reoccurring while every once in a while, someone enters the shop out of pure curiousity.

The small masked man sat in his shop, softly humming to himself as he waited for customers. He ran a hand through his ebony colored locks in attempt to keep it out of his field of vision. Zacharie could never seem to get his unruly hair under control, it practically has a mind of it's own. He was wearing a mask that looked to be resembling a toad. He had gotten comments on it often. Some stating how it was unsettling to look at, while others were questions, asking what he hid beneath the mask. Typically, the merchant would reply with something snarky or try to change the subject. Usually, it worked.

Zacharie's fingers drummed against the counter he sat at as he let his mind wander. It was nearing the afternoon and usually customers never came at that time. The merchant could feel heat and moisture building up underneath his mask and it was getting quite difficult to breathe. He lifted the toad-like mask the slightest, so only his mouth was exposed. Faint scars criss-crossed on his lips and cheeks. Zacharie never showed it to anyone, as it was one of his greatest insecurities. The sound of a door opening and a bell ringing could be heard and Zacharie panicked a little as he hurriedly fixed his mask so it was back in its original position, sitting up straight in the process. A tall man (really tall, 6'0 at least), entered the shop. He appeared to be dressed in a baseball attire, as he wore a white jersey and a black baseball hat, or "dad hat" as Zacharie liked to call it.

"Buenos Días!" the merchant greeted the man with a smile. The smile wasn't visible due to his mask, but oddly enough, it could be heard in his tone. The taller male didn't answer. His face was expressionless as his cold stare was fixed blankly on Zacharie who chuckled. "What's the matter, cat got your tongue?" He asked in a teasing tone, to which the man huffed in annoyance before making his way toward the back of the store. 

_Peculiar._ Zacharie thought to himself.

It was a few minutes before the man in baseball attire approached the counter Zacharie was sitting at, holding a baseball bat and a.. paintbrush? Quite a large paintbrush too, Zacharie had forgotten it was in his shop. The customer set the items on the counter. Zacharie checked the price tags before stating the total price for both of the items. The man nodded and took out his wallet.

"I haven't seen you around here. What's your name, amigo?" Zacharie asked.

The man mumbled his name in response. It wasn't very clear, but judging by the whole baseball theme around this man, Zacharie assumed he said "The Batter". 

"The Batter..." Zacharie repeated. "I like it, it's suitable for your attire."

The Batter set the cash on the table as he nodded. Zacharie observed the Batter now that he was closer. The taller male seemed physically fit. He had pale skin and sharp cheekbones that were peppered in light freckles that weren't easily spotted at first glance. He also had eyes that were.. orange? Zacharie had never seen anyone with eyes that color, they seemed close to unnatural. He said nothing of it as the Batter picked up the newly bought items and exited the store.

"Strange man." Zacharie commented aloud once the Batter was out of earshot.

The merchant thought about how the Batter hadn't shown a single sign of human emotion. The peculiar man's very movements seemed to be unexpressive, complementing his facial expression. The Batter was intriguing to Zacharie and he wished to know more about them, why they behaved the way they did. Zacharie hoped he could see the Batter in the future.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not too proud with how this turned out, but it was 12 am at the time I began writing this ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

The day after, Zacharie was in his shop as usual. He was there most days, since he didn't get much money from it. The merchant was wearing a different mask and instead of his white t-shirt, he wore a sweater with the same design. The mask he was wearing resembled a feline-like creature with an unsettling smile and two gaping, black holes for eyes. His legs dangled from the chair he was sitting at as he waited patiently for customers. He was quite short, usually friends would tease him for it. They never did it to be mean, more so just in attempt to be playful. That didn't mean it still didn't get on Zacharie's nerves though. 

The merchant read through the daily newspaper as he bounced his knee. He read it occasionally, sometimes he didn't. Zacharie never cared for politics or celebrity gossip. He froze as he read the front headlines that were printed large and emboldened. "3 MISSING, 1 FOUND DEAD" it said. Just reading the title made Zacharie feel uneasy. The town he lived in was relatively small and typically things like this never happened. This was truly out of the ordinary. The newspaper described the discovered body to be covered in bruises. Several bones were broken and it's skull was fractured. But that wasn't what gave Zacharie the most chills, it was the fact that the body's abdomen was completely mutilated. Whoever or whatever killed this person, they wanted their death to be slow and painful. 

Zacharie couldn't read it anymore, he set the newspaper down and shuddered. "Dios mío.." He whispered to himself. He was relieved to hear the sound of a door opening followed by a bell ringing. 

_A customer._ Zacharie throught to himself.  _Something to distract me from this mess._

To his surprise, it was no customer, but his best friend, Sucre who he has knew since childhood. It had been about a month or two since he has seen her. She had a bob cut and a round face that always contained a smile. Sucre rushed over to Zacharie, reaching over the counter and pulling him into a tight embrace. "ZACHIE!!" She squealed with joy as Zacharie chuckled a bit. It was a few moments before he managed to escape the girl's embrace. 

"So, how have you been?" She asked as she bounced excitedly, unable to contain her excitement. 

"Oh, you know, the usual. Working and such." Zacharie shrugged.

Sucre's smile fell. "But Zachiiee.. You're always working.. " She whined, as if she were a small child. 

"Well, I have to make money somehow." the merchant shrugged once more. 

"Don't you ever take a break every once in a while?" The girl asked. 

Zacharie shook his head. 

"Well, there's a coffee shop down the street if you wanna go with me." Sucre offered. 

"No can do, sorry." Zacharie responded. 

"Oh.. Pleeeaaase..?" Sucre whined. "It won't kill you to leave your store for a little bit." 

"Alright, fine." He chuckled. 

"YAY!!"

 

~~~~

 

Zacharie sat at a small table across from Sucre,who had gotten a pastry of a sort, unsurprisingly .The girl was rambling on about a white dove she had gotten as a pet recently. She had named it Japhet. Zacharie wasn't paying attention all that much so he wasn't entirely sure. "..and he's really sassy. He does whatever he wants."  Sucre said as Zacharie nodded. "Uh huh.. Cool."

Zacharie stared off into the coffee shop before something, really someone caught his eye. It was none other than the Batter, the person he had met yesterday. The merchant was genuinely surprised to see them here. The Batter was sitting alone at a table with tea. "Tea in a coffee shop, Batter?" Zacharie asked from across a few tables away. The Batter looked up from staring into space at Zacharie. "What?" His question hardly sounded like a question, more so just his usual expressionless tone.

 Zacharie stood up from his table and approached the Batter. "Nevermind. How are you doing today?" the merchant asked. What the hell was he doing? Well, he can't get out of this now. It doesn't seem like he can start a conversation with the Batter without making him feel uncomfortable at the very least. 

The Batter stared blankly at Zacharie, who soon realized something. "Oh! I didn't even introduce myself to you. How rude of me!" Zacharie facepalmed. "I'm Zacharie, the merchant that sold you items yesterday." He held out a hand for the Batter to shake. The Batter glanced down at Zacharie's hand before looking back up at his mask. Zacharie was internally screaming. "Alright." Was all the Batter said in response. He didn't even shake Zacharie's hand.  

"You don't speak all that much. Why is that?" the merchant asked as he put his hands in his pockets. The Batter shrugged. "I assume you like baseball?" Zacharie asked to which they Batter quickly nodded. 

"Really? What's your favorite team?" He asked in attempt to start some kind of conversation. 

"Red Sox, I guess." the Batter responded.

This awkward conversation about baseball didn't go on for very long since Zacharie knew jack squat about the sport. He just wanted to get to know the Batter more. Surprisingly, the merchant had managed to get the man's number. 

Zacharie walked back to the table he and Sucre were sitting at.

"Who was that?" She asked. 

"Just someone I met the other day." Zacharie shrugged. 

"Do you have a crush on him or something? You looked so awkward." Sucre teased.

"No! I'm not gay." the merchant could feel his cheeks heat up a little, he was thankful for his mask. "You're so immature." He shook his head. 

 

~~~~

 

After his little "coffee break" Zacharie spent the rest of the day in his shop, selling items to customers and such. It was nearing the end of the day and Zacharie was debating on whether or not he should close the shop early. He ended up doing so, being tired from earlier today. The merchant flipped the sign on the door to "closed" before exiting the store, locking the door on the way out. Today was quite eventful. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> skrrt skrrt my hands hurt. I hope to do at least one chapter every day or two. Hopefully I have the time to do so.   
> Comments are greatly appreciated :}


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a P.O.V. switch.

"Where have you been, dear Batter?" asked a familiar voice.

The Batter looked down to see a thin, white feline rubbing against his leg.

"Out. Why? Am I not allowed to leave my house?" he asked, slight aggression present in his tone.

"You are putting yourself at risk of getting caught." the cat stated as looked up at the  stoic man. 

"Fool. He never gets caught, regardless of how much he purifies." Another voice said. A second white cat peeked around the corner of a hallway. It approached the Batter, who said nothing. The second cat wasn't as thin as the first and had thicker fur. It swayed it's bushy tail slowly. The thinner feline glared at the other before glancing back up at the Batter with an unsettling grin. 

"Speaking of purification, have you given that red wall a fresh coat?"

"No I have not, thank you for reminding me, Pablo." the Batter said as he began searching around for something.

The second white feline frowned, sitting back on it's haunches as it curled it's fluffy tail neatly around it's paws. "Remind me why he must keep this wall wet. Surely he can do something else besides taking the lives of others to do so."

"Behind that wall hides a monstrous creature that craves the blood of humans. If we do not satisfy it, it with come through and rip us all to bloody shreds, Valerie." Pablo explained. The Batter held a paintbrush with a dried red liquid on it and a baseball bat. "I also must purify this town. It's so revolting how toxic some of these disgusting, incompetent humans treat their own kind and other living beings. I hate them. I hate them all." the Batter stated. 

"Why must this be your task, exactly? Not only that, you going around brutally slaughtering people with an excuse as to why you're doing so, makes you no better. There's no point." Valerie said in attempt to convince the Batter. 

"Don't listen to him, Batter! The filthy feline speaks of lies!" Pablo hissed as his hackles raised. 

"Either one of us could be lying, brother. But I believe Michael should be the one to decide. After all, we are merely the voices in his head. So,-" Valerie looked up at the Batter. "-what will it be, Michael?"

"I am the Batter. Michael is no longer here, and the wall requires my assistance." with that, the Batter disappeared down into the basement. 

 

~~~~

 

"Please.. " begged a feminine voice that echoed throughout the basement. "Please don't hurt me.." the woman who was tied up and sitting in a corner pleaded. "I'll do anything! What do you want? Money? I have that!" She offered desperately. "It's a shame a girl as beautiful as you are could be so  _ugly_ on the inside. It wouldn't take much effort to make your outside look like your inside." said the Batter, who held a bat tightly in his hand. "What do you mean!? I didn't do anything you motherfucker!" She yelled. 

"Quiet. Don't pretend I didn't see you harassing a bartender at that stupid little cafe, and when I made the attempt to defend them, you began to harass me too. Your shit is hidden in good looks, but I can smell it."

"And you?!" She shouted. 

"On the inside, I'm.. I'm.. " he hesitated to answer. He glared at the woman sternly. "Shut up! That has nothing to do with this! People like you who speak disgusting lies and hurt others is what makes this vile society rot quicker than it already is!" 

"You hypocritical son of a-" the woman was cut off by being whacked across the face with a baseball bat. There was panicked yelling and a series of loud cracks of bones before silence. The cracking resumed, each hit of the Batter's baseball bat made each crack quieter as the body began to soften with each bone fractured and broken. 

Soon, the wall in the basement was covered in a fresh coat of blood. The Batter stared at it blankly. 

_Such amusing lies. If they really had a will to live, they would have known how easy it was to die. At these particular times, you can tell they're not regretting having hurt you. They just regret doing it to your face._

_Maybe Valerie is right, I am pretty ugly on the inside._


	4. Somewhere Over The Rainbow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> happy birthday ya dipshits I found the spark. sorry I left this for so long I went into a hella depressive state. Still not out of it. anywho take this steaming pile of dog shit

It was silent, with the exception of chirping of crickets in the distance. The Batter stood beside a window, looking up at the stars. He leaned against the windowsill as he did so, letting his mind wander.

It had been a few days since he had met that merchant. The two had grown some kind of friendship, specifically over cats. It's not a strong friendship, considering it's over cats. It all started with the Batter complimenting the mask Zacharie wore, which was quite a surprise to the merchant. People only poked fun at him for his mask, or simply commented on how creepy it was. He liked his kitty mask, not as much as his toad mask though, but that's what the Batter knew. He told Zacharie about his two cats, that were definitely NOT reoccurring hallucinations that often told him to do bad things. He didn't tell Zacharie the cats talked, only for the better.

Speaking of those cats, he had not seen them in a while. Sure, he's heard them every now and again but he hadn't gotten a glimpse of them in a few nights. Maybe he's distracted by finally meeting someone. It was rare for him. If he's not mistaken, he hasn't ever made a friend since 7th grade. The batter wasn't a very talkative individual, nor was he particularly normal. That brought him to think about the time in 9th grade a kid mocked him for talking to himself. The batter wasn't talking to himself. He never talked to himself. What did they mean anyway? It was still infuriating nevertheless. That same day he remembered getting suspended. 

Maybe he was just a weirdo, and people simply stayed away from him in attempt to avoid getting themselves into deep shit. That brought himself to the thought about people overall. Did he even want friends? Nearly everyone he's met in this deceased society has been arrogant, insecure, opinionated assholes. He wasn't any better. He probably made everything worse. Maybe if he were to drop this little "mission" of killing and leave things would be better. He didn't want to be here anyway. There were better places. Maybe. Anything was better than  _here._

Somewhere over the rainbow, things are better.

His mind wandered too much.

He turned to look at the digital clock sitting on his three-legged dresser. It read 1 AM.  _Time flies._ He thought to himself. 

"So, it's going to be one of  _those_ nights again, hm?" Valerie purred as the feline rubbed against the Batter's legs, weaving in between them.

"What else is there to do? Sit here and rot? Cry?" The batter replied stoically. 

"I'm not implying you shouldn't do it. In fact, I would take your side on this." The cat leaned against the tall male as it's tail oscillated slowly.

The batter sighed. 

"There  _is_ nothing to do anymore, Michael. There's no purpose for doing any of the things your doing."

"You're.. you're right." The batter leaned down to pet the cat, to which it responded to rubbing against his hand and purring contently. 

"Remember.. Somewhere over the rainbow. What do ya say?" Valerie cooed.

The batter nodded and sauntered over to his three legged dresser. He grabbed a bottle of antidepressants, staring down at the container. These never seemed to work for him. They were given to him years ago and he simply stopped taking them because they were just fucking useless. There was about half of the pills left. Should be enough maybe. 

"Go on, do it. Nobody is stopping you." Valerie grinned manically. 

"No more stars to sit alone under, no more dreaming for a better society, I'm sick of it. NO MORE OF THESE SICKENING VOICES." The Batter popped the bottle open and downed the bottle of pills within a few painful gulps. He threw the container to the side as he coughed. Swallowing those all at once was painful, but he did it. All he had to do was wait.

Later that night, he was passed out on the floor of his room. It was truly silent.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> happyyujn valentinrghjjjhh

Zacharie's shop was eerily quiet; quieter than the usual quiet. This quiet was hollow and cold, it almost felt dangerous; like something bad was going to happen but it is unexpected. The merchant didn't particularly like that quiet. It was the polar opposite of peace. 

For the past few weeks, the Batter would visit his shop every day. They talked together; of course Zacharie was the more talkative of the two, and the Batter usually only responded with grunts and occasional one-word replies. He enjoyed the man's company regardless. The only issue was, the Batter was nowhere to be seen that day nor did he call or text.

Zacharie was somewhat worried to say the least. He fixed his toad mask, which was slipping a little. Maybe he can give the Batter a call. He took out his phone and did so. After a few long and painful moments, he was left with a voicemail. He sighed and put the phone down. It soon came to realization that the merchant had no idea where the Batter lived.

The man was always very secretive, he could hide a nuclear weapon and nobody would discover it. It made Zacharie wonder:  _If someone is seemingly so secretive, would it be safe to trust them?_ He rested his head in his hand. Well, despite the man being so quiet and unforthcoming, he was pretty nice. Zacharie hoped to get to know the Batter better.

Despite his somewhat hollow personality, the Batter was.. well.. overall good looking in the merchant's opinion. After poking and prodding a few questions towards the Batter in the past, Zacharie had discovered the man was standing at a height of 6'5. The merchant did ask about the unusual color of the baseball player's eyes, to which there was no response. Zacharie didn't dislike the bright and vibrant color, he found himself to like them in actuality. They were complimentary with the Batter's hair, which was also some kind of reddish-brown color. It looked soft, he wondered what it would feel like to touch it.  _No, that's creepy. Stop thinking about that._ He thought to himself. He grumbled and stood. He needed a break before he was going to mentally deteriorate from boredom and his thoughts.

 Some Arby's seemed good as of right now.  


~~~

The following night, Zaharie couldn't seem to get his mind over the fact the Batter hadn't contacted him all day, unusual to the two's routine. It worried him. He took out his phone to check one final time. Nothing. Zacharie sighed.

Maybe he would see the Batter tomorrow. He could only hope. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was hella short I'm sorry


	6. Revival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can see I don't update much. Happy late zombie jesus day I guess

A faint heartbeat grew stronger. 

Eyes slowly peeled open and glanced around groggily. His vision was darkened and blurry. The Batter's whole body felt weak and fatigued. His breathing was slow and quiet, almost silent. Once his vision cleared he noticed it was around the time of noon. He laid there on the ground for several minutes, that was before he felt severely nauseous.

The Batter quickly stood, stumbling slightly before regaining his balance. He hurriedly hobbled into the bathroom to dispose of the contents remaining in his stomach. His body felt cold and he felt light headed, his hands trembled as he kneeled hunched over the now dirtied toilet bowl, tears forming at the ends of his eyelids.

The man rose shakily.  _It wasn't enough. But I'm oddly relieved._ He thought to himself. He felt tired, and parched to say the least. Apon realizing this he shuffled into his disorganized kitchen, which seemed to be overdue for a deep cleaning. The Batter grabbed a half empty plastic bottle of water and chugged it's remaining cocontents. He carelessly threw the bottle to the side and let out an exhausted sigh. 

The next thought, _sleep._ He slowly walked into the living room and flopped onto the couch. Within minutes he was asleep.

~~~

Zacharie was worried sick and he began to draw quick conclusions. He cared deeply for the Batter despite having known the man for just a short time. 

He ran his shop, as per usual. The lack of customers caused him to continue on with this unhealthy thinking. It eventually resulted to the merchant having to go on break to have a small breakdown in the back room.

As it neared towards the end of the day and the masked merchant had closed down his shop, he decided to attempt to get in contact with the Batter once more. After a few of these attempts he assumed this forth time went to voicemail, but there was a slightly more drawn out silence. 

"Uhm.. _Hello..?"_ Zacharie cooed quietly.

"..hey." A groggy voice responded.

The merchant felt a slight jolt of surprise finally hearing the Batter's voice. He felt massive wave of relief wash over him and a wide smile crept onto his cheeks.

"Hey! Oh my gosh you're back! How are you doing, are you alright?" Zacharie sounded much more relieved and enthusiastic as he bombarded the Batter with questions.

" 'm fine.. just tired." The voice responded flatly.

"That's good. I'm glad you're okay. I was worried sick you have no idea!" Zacharie paced around his apartment both anxiously and excitedly. 

"oh. Sorry." The Batter mumbled.

"Does that mean you don't want to visit..?" Zacharie asked.

"..uh.. I can I guess. Sure."


	7. It was truly a date, in my opinion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They said the freezie machine was broken, batter thought otherwise.

Zacharie had pulled up in front of a sketchy looking gas station, which was in an equally as sketchy neighborhood. It was old and dirtied, the type of place people would hang around to buy drugs and shit. Needless to say, the merchant found this to be a very strange place to meet up with the Batter. He was starting to have second thoughts about this, that was until the Batter had walked out of the gas station, holding a red slushie in one hand. His jersey was stained in a small area, it had a red tint. Zacharie didn't think much of it as he unlocked the door for the other.

The man climbed into the passenger's seat, mumbling a greeting. 

"Buenos días." Zacharie smiled to the Batter, despite his toad mask covering it, "So.. why did you want to meet up here of all places?" He asked.

"Closest to my house, wanted to get this." The Batter responded flatly as he gestured to the slushie in his hand. Zacharie chuckled and shook his head, "That's fair. So how've you been, amigo?"

"Fine. Just.. tired." The man mumbled in response as he glanced out the window, pulling the bill of his baseball hat over his eyes.

"Ah, work stressing you out I would assume?" Zacharie asked as he pulled out of the scary looking gas station, and driving down the street. He drove slightly above the speed limit, feeling very unsafe in this area. 

The Batter froze slightly as he briefly glanced over to the shorter man. He turned his gaze back to the window, "..yeah." His response was delayed.

Zacharie couldn't really think of anything else to say, so he simply let the silence overtake. He pursed his lips slightly. The hum of the air conditioner and was maddening, and starting to get on his nerves. He asked whatever came to his mind first. "You wear that hat a lot, don't you?" The merchant asked with a friendly tone.  _Fuck. That was stupid._ He internally cursed at himself. 

"Mhm." Was the only response he recieved. Zacharie understood the Batter wasn't a very talkative person, but part of him really wanted them to open up.

"Never seen you take it off." Zacharie continued to poke and prod.

The quieter man only shrugged.

The merchant went silent once more, feeling the awkward tension growing between them. 

Finally, they pulled into the Waffle House they agreed to going to. Zacharie let out a sigh of relief. "We're here." He stated obviously as he stepped out of his car. The Batter had done the same. 

~~~

After ordering, the silence between them continued. Zacharie watched and observed the Batter's movements and mannerisms. The man shifted and fidgeted often, glancing around the room. His expression was mostly blank, except during the occasional times his expression would shift slightly. It seemed worried. Zacharie found this concerning.

"Something wrong, amigo?" The merchant asked.

The Batter blinked a few times before looking up at the man. He seemed to be taken out of thought. "Hm..? Oh, yes. Sorry." He said quickly as he lifted his hat to run his hands through his hair, which was red and soft looking. Zacharie perked up.

"Oh? I didn't know you had red hair." The merchant tilted his head. Rather uncommon. He liked it, the Batter's eyes were complimentary to it. 

"Yea."

Zacharie didn't expect much of a reply from him anymore. He was starting to tolerate it, despite it feeling rather disheartening, like the Batrer was disinterested or aggravated. 

Luckily, the waiter came to give the two men their food. Zacharie felt relieved by this as well.

~~~

After that experience Zacharie found both rather miserable and memorable he drove the Batter to his apartment to maybe watch a movie or something, like they used to do often. 

Once there, the Batter took a seat on the couch, shifting slightly. Zacharie grabbed the remote and turned on the television while he looked through all the movies he had. The news was on, talking about yet another missing person. The Batter narrowed his eyes as he watched, shifting uncomfortably once again. 

Zacharie didn't seem to notice as he looked through the movies. "I have a whole collection of Godzilla movies, do you wanna watch that?" He looked over to the other, who shrugged. 

"Alright." The merchant grinned beneath his mask. He grabbed the one featuring Mothera, one of his personal favorites. He kneeled by the DVD player. "The movie is in Japanese, but there's subtitles." The merchant said as he sat down beside the Batter, who nodded in understanding. 

Often during the movie, Zacharie would make glances at the Batter, seeing if he was paying attention at all. He silently hoped they would just emote, even in the slightest. The merchant hardly paid attention to the movie, being so worried about the Batter. 

He didn't know why he was so anxious and giddy around the man. It was unusual for his typically laid back self. Zacharie very subtly scooted closer to the Batter, who didn't seem to notice. He leaned over and gently rested his head on the taller man's shoulder. The Batter tensed slightly as he glanced down at Zacharie, who froze. He relaxed, not really opposing to the action. Zacharie let out a quiet sigh of relief as he relaxed as well. 

The Batter moved his arm around Zacharie, who was very tempted to squeal with excitement. He was overjoyed to feel the warmth of the other man making contact with him. He didn't know himself that he felt this way for the Batter. He hoped the feelings were mutual, however. 

Eventually, the merchant had felt his eyelids grow heavy. He couldn't resist the urge, he let himself fall asleep. The Batter noticed this, and decided to do so as well. The afternoon was turning to evening, anyway. 


	8. Trip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like my consistent posting schedule?

The next day rolled around and the Batter was woken up by the warmth of the sun shining through the blinds of a nearby window. He glanced around his surroundings groggily.

_Where am I?_ He asked himself once he processed the fact he was in an unfamiliar home. However, relief was quick to wash over him when the realization came he was in Zacharie's home, laying beneath the merchant, who slept soundly on the other's chest. Regardless, that damned mask was still there.

The Batter felt a sense of comfort feeling the warmth of another human being on his body, so calm and peaceful. It gave him a sense of contentment and relief. He wanted to keep this forever.

Unfortunately that didn't last too long because Zacharie woke up and left the comforting position he and the Batter were in to make food for the two of them. 

~~~ 

The first part of the day past and the Batter had to walk back home, as much as he didn't want to. He looked exhausted, dark bags present under his eyes at a constant. They were in great contrast to his pale, almost porcelain colored skin which was covered in slightly darker freckles. Messy, unwashed red hair hid beneath the cap he wore.

The voices in his head whispered and overlapped each other as he tried to walk, distracted by them. He wasn't aware of his surroundings. That was, until a man stopped him on the street. He was pulled out of the clouds when they started to speak.

"Heyyy.. there buddy, big guy. You look pretty on edge, eh?" They were short and skinny, and wore dirtied clothes. Everything about them was sketchy and the Batter only glared slightly at the man. 

"What do you want?" The Batter asked flatly. 

"Nothin, I just wanted to give this to ya, a kind act of generosity." The man grinned as he took out a small plastic bag, which looked to have some kind of seed in it. The Batter had no idea what it was, but it peaked his interest.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Put it in tea, it'll make ya trip real hard, good stuff. I just wanna get rid of it. Too strong for me." The man explained as they handed the bag to the Batter, who hesitantly took it.

"I see.." He mumbled. He supposed a distraction would be nice.

The man pat the Batter on the shoulder. "Enjoy man. Careful though." He grinned before walking off. 

The batter mumbled a 'thank you' before continuing to walk home.

~~~

He spent his time boiling water and making tea with the seeds. He didn't use a lot, hearing this stuff was supposedly strong. He stared down at the mug of tea. The Batter hoped it was worth it.

He sat down to take a few sips. Eventually once he managed to finish it, he felt nothing yet. He internally cursed at himself for not asking what this shit was.

The batter leaned back into the couch, letting out a content sigh. He waited. He didn't expect much to happen, he didnt feel any different for the past twenty or so minutes. That was, until he soon started to feel dizzy and quite rather parched. 

He felt generally uncomfortable, as he shifted in his seat. The batter stared down at the ground in silence. The need for water was starting to grow overwhelming, his mouth felt so dry. He stood to quench his dehydration. Despite his feeling of unhealthy discomfort physically, he felt somewhat calm and comfortable. 

The Batter felt the need to sit down, feeling the floor spin beneath his feet. He threw himself back onto the couch as he shifted much more in a desperate attempt to get comfortable, which was seemingly impossible. 

His visuals were starting to turn disoriented. He was used to this, but it felt so much stronger. He was starting to fear for what would occur next. 

These hallucinations were as clear as spring waters, as malnourished black cats crept around him. There were many of them, and they appeared wet and distressed, almost like they were melting. They soon did just so, their skin seemed to burn and blister from the inside out as they rolled around. The felines mewled and yowled in pain as their skin deteriorated and burned off of their thin bodies. The muscle was visible and damaged arteries bled onto the floor below them. The many screams of pain were starting to sound almost human as they overlapped one another, causing the Batter to grow overwhelmed as he stared fearfully. 

Organs dripped and melted from the cats' underside as the muscle burned away. The cats soon seemed to simultaneously turn to ash and wither away, leaving the floors covered in blood.  _So. Much. Blood._ The Batter didn't like this, voices from everywhere around him yelled his name.

Insects and blood seemed to crawl up the walls as the voices of people continued to call his name. Crickets chirped loudly in the background. Despite all of these horrifying visuals, he felt mental relaxation and comfort as of now. The sense of detachment was strong, but nothing felt unusual. 

The Batter glanced down to see a very old bible in his hand that was nailed shut. He couldn't figure out how to open it, but the pages were moist and covered in blood as well. It dripped from his lap and onto the floor more and more as he tried to open it. After moments of struggling the voices and chirping around him subsided and it was silent. Dead silent. The bible laid in the Batter's lap as he listened. 

The book was quickly forced open and suddenly numerous terrifying shadow creatures flew out of the bible, screeching loudly. They were faceless, other than a gaping black hole surrounded by teeth in the center of their face. 

The Batter could only watch blankly as spectres and terrible monsters screamed and whispered around him. They circled and surrounded the Batter, getting into his face and grabbing him repeatedly. He hurriedly tried to force the bible shut, with little success. He felt absolutely terrified now. He hardly noticed the tears streaming down his face. If they ere tears, that is. Nothing felt real. Everything around him felt so far away, like he was flying.

Suddenly the Batter was engulfed in blackness. It felt all too dark. He looked around wildly for some source of light.. somewhere. He felt like he was standing in liquid, ankles deep. He felt nauseous, and stumbled before collapsing and falling onto the floor. The batter suddenly seemed to return to home. He emptied the contents of his stomach onto the floor. 

The Batter glanced up from the vomit now on the floor to see he was in a forest. Trees were covered in sap and the corpses of dogs fell from them Oh so painfully slowly. Their eyes were gone and their bodies seemed hollowed out of its organs. This was the last thing the Batter saw before his vision faded into black. He slipped into unconsciousness.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are greatly appreciated :}


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